Cash Is King: Know How COD Is Making A Comeback In The Era Of Digital Payments

Digital payments have made life easier as individuals can conduct transactions with ease. Even as the use of digital payment apps is becoming more and more common, users seem to prefer cash-on-delivery for certain transactions, according to a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar, a marketing data and analytics company.

The report estimated that the total number of e-commerce users in India was around 480 million, of which 332 million people used e-commerce apps for online shopping. Notably 105 million internet users among the 332 million online shoppers only used COD for making payments.

The report added that there were 886 million internet users in India in 2024 and nearly 12 per cent of these users started online shopping through Cash On Delivery (COD). The report added that these new users engage in online shopping but opt exclusively for ‘Cash on Delivery’ as their payment method and do not participate in other online transactional activities.

Who are these COD Only Users?

Kantar mentioned in its report that internet users who opt for cash-on-delivery come from varied backgrounds across geographies, genders and age.

The report found that as many as 44 per cent of rural Indians who use the internet opt for cash-on-delivery transactions while shopping online. The data also suggested that as much as 52 per cent of all the female internet users in India only opted for ‘cash-on-delivery’ payment options and did not use digital payment methods.

Kantar said in its report that 31 per cent of all internet users who purchase consumer durables online and fall in the New Consumer Classification System Consumer Durables (NCCS CDE) classification opted for cash on delivery in lieu of digital payments.

Additionally, nearly 27 per cent of all online shoppers aged below 19 years chose to buy things online and pay for them via cash-on-delivery.

The report also found a key trend in shopping wherein online shopping through social media apps witnessed a slowdown in 2024. The number of internet users who used social media apps for shopping stood at 55 million.